Sofa Cinema

Gifts - NEW | Help | Sign in

Hotlists: Rent games; New releases; Coming soon; In cinemas now; Top rated; Most popular; All-time favourites; Divided opinions

Games: DS; GameCube; PS2; PS3; PSP; Wii; Xbox; Xbox 360

Collections: 100 Wild Westerns; 100 Most Wanted; 100 Hot Hits; 100 must-see movies; 100 Big Adventures; 100 Horror Films; 100 Cops & Robbers; 100 Rom-Coms

Hi-Def: Blu-ray; HD DVD

In the Loop (2009)

Full screen | Broadband « | Average | Dial-up

Average rating

(72%)

Starring:	Peter Capaldi \| Tom Hollander \| Gina McKee \| James Gandolfini \| Mimi Kennedy \| Anna Chlumsky \| Zach Woods \| Chris Addison \| Steve Coogan \| David Rasche
Director:	Armando Iannucci
Studio:	OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time:	106 mins
Collections:	100 Most Wanted
Genres:	Comedy
Languages:	English
Released:	August 24, 2009
Also available on:

IN THE LOOP is a foul-mouthed comedy that draws on non-specific events to create a world that is terrifyingly familiar: The US President and UK Prime Minister fancy a war, but not everyone agrees that war is a ‘good thing’. US General Miller (James Gandolfini – The Sopranos, The Taking Of Pelham 123) certainly doesn't think so and neither does the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander – Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice). But when the mild-mannered minister inadvertently appears to back the war on prime-time television, he immediately attracts the attention of the PM’s venomously aggressive communications chief Malcolm Tucker (reprised from The Thick of It by Peter Capaldi), who latches onto him like a hawk. Soon, the Brits are in Washington, where diplomatic relations collide with trans-Atlantic spin doctors and Foster’s off-hand remark quickly spirals into an insurmountable ‘mountain of conflict’.

Screenshots

Rating of 5 stars out of 5
Time Out

Cover your eyes: is this another well-loved sitcom dying an embarrassing death on the big screen? Far from it ...

Highest rated reviews

73 out of 73 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4 stars
Very funny political satire

mgreatrex from , 8th April, 2009

If you are a fan of political comedy, you will really enjoy this film and I must confess to not having seen the TV series it is spun off from, The Thick of It. This film has a good cast which demonstrates the political complexities and how a few miss timed words can hilariously de-rail the opposition to proposals. The plot could be conceived to be dangerously close to real life political events, which makes the way the arrive at the outcome truely scary! The No.10 character does use some offensive language, but it will always make you laugh - especially when used on the Americans! Brilliantly thrown into the mix are constituency matters which all MPs have -with Steve Coogan at his best - and I felt it was a cocktail for a very good film. Enjoy!

Read all highest rated reviews

Most recent reviews

Rated 0 stars
Embarassing...

A Customer from Nottingham, 18th November, 2009

It's embarassing that this film received National Lottery funding as it so proudly brags about at the start, and it's an embarrasing film to watch. The rating classification of 'painful' couldn't be more right, as every second of the the opening scenes of this film are aired decorated with ******* painful amounts of unnecessarily bad language. OK, so the guy's upset... and it seems the best the script writer can do to make this clear is make the character swear every one and a half words. This film is simply unwatchably bad... so much so, the 'stop' button became the most desirable thing I own. What a waste of a rental.

Read all recent reviews

6 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5 stars
A proper comedy for grown-ups with beautifully filthy language

Daniel Pollard from Manchester, England, 13th November, 2009

In The Loop is a feature length version of the BBC4 hit political comedy series In The Thick Of It. Most of the attention has correctly gone to Peter Capaldi’s foul mouthed prime ministerial press chief, Malcolm Tucker, based on Alistair Campbell, or at any rate his reputation. However, Tucker’s equally toilet mouthed and damn right abusive assistant, Jamie, reprised from the original TV show and played brilliantly by Paul Higgins is also a forced to be reckoned with in the nutcase stakes. All the other performances are equally brilliant on both sides of the Atlantic and the documentary feel of the film really gives it an uneasy sense of realism. This sense of realism helps to convey a dark view of politics; where Politian’s are only interested in their own careers and how they look in front of the media. They’re lost in a web of government bureaucracy and can’t see the human consequences of war and conflict. However, this subtext doesn’t distract from the laugh a minute script, and at least two viewings are recommended to properly grasp all the filthy insults and abusive language that Malcolm and Jamie continually shout at cowering MPs. As the film is adapted from a 30 minute TV series there are the inevitable stretch marks and the story slightly loses its way when it leaves the safety of Westminster for Washington, but these are minor criticisms in the what for my money is the best British comedy of the year.

Read all recent reviews

Rated 0 stars
Disappointing

Mychas from , 12th November, 2009

A tedious film which seems to use an excess of swearing and over-acting to make-up for an uninteresting and boring script. The characters are portrayed as backstabbing, two-faced, foul-mouthed and juvenile Government employees/Politicians...perhaps this is too close to reality as it only makes me cringe and long for something closer to real Political humour, like 'Yes Minister' or 'Bulworth'. Maybe it's a good movie for those who like the new craze for 'reality' TV and wallowing in the dirt and squallor of dysfunctional people's lives...call me old fashioned but I prefer a healthy dose of escapism every time!!

Read all recent reviews